Junk baskets have long been used in drilling wells for retrieval of junk or debris which is in the bottom of a well bore. Such junk baskets have included cutting means such as a mill of tungsten carbide inserts on the lower end of the housing and a catcher positioned above the cutting means and having means, such as pivoted fingers, which can extend into the bore to support the debris within the housing. Some prior tools have included means, such as jets, to create an upward flow through the cutting means and into the catcher chamber. These jets are activated by dropping a ball to close flow through the central bore and direct it through the jets.
The Donnell et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,370 discloses a junk basket with a valve controlling flow either through the bore of the device (valve open at low flow rates) or through side jets (valve closed responsive to high flow rates).
The Skipper U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,007 discloses a drilling tool in which the flow of fluid through ports in the drill bit is controlled by a piston responsive to fluid pressure.
The Warrington U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,823 discloses a well tool having a resilient ring valve member which is compressed to close the tool bore responsive to downward movement of a tubular member.
The Murray U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,486 discloses a frangible disc directing flow through side ports until it is ruptured by pressure to allow flow through the central bore.
The Kuenzel U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,245 discloses a well fishing tool with retractable and extendable gripping elements and a stop assembly with a cam which is responsive to longitudinal movement and selectively aligns or offsets the stop surfaces to prevent or allow movement of the gripping elements.